The Travels of Clan Styrmvarden
by 363 Forgotten Hope
Summary: Not including any original characters yet, except Ezel, of course. My main storyline has not developed, so just enjoy an adventure. Rated M for violence and suggestive themes. and no, no sex scenes. I'd get in trouble for that.


writers block word

Thedoric looked out onto the rising red orb in the east, bathing in its warm glow. He took a breath, feeling the crisp morning air dry his throat. Purple clouds floated around the sun, reflecting on their undersides the blood red hue. He closed his eyes, taking a very deep breath, then letting it out again. He smiled. Today was a good day to fight.

He got up, the morning dew settling on his boots as he jumped down from the rock he had been seated on. The morning was chill, but he knew it was going to be a hot one. He walked through the glade, boots slithering on the wet grass, and stepped into camp.

Not everybody was awake yet. Four tents were scattered about in the old ruin, crumbling stone and twisted metal. Made of a material not unlike burlap, they had been soaked in oil, then wax, and finally tallow to make them pliant, yet waterproof. They had the clan symbol on them- an axe encircled by twisting flame- in a black dye. And from one of these tents emerged two figures.

The twins had been lifelong friends of his- Two Bangaa inseparable brothers, going wherever each other went. One tended to dress in red- his name was Elaii. The other dressed in blue- He was Onaii. The two smiled and touched their scaly brows when they saw Thedoric.

"G'mornin, sah!" they saluted smartly. He laughed.

"No 'sah' from either of you two!"

"Mornin' Thed. How's it goin, mate?" said Elaii.

"Fine, man, jus' fine. And how're you two this fine brisky' morn?"

"Ready to fight. Knucks at the ready." The two laughed simultaneously.

The "knuck" was an old joke in the clan. The two had come to the clan, hearing of Thedoric's need of people, and had come into his tent. He recognized them instantly, and immediately accepted them. When he asked them what weapons they used, they pulled out their heavy mail gauntlets with spikes on them. Unfortunately, the Two had the hiccups that day, and when they were about to say the word "knuckles", they were cut short. And it came out as: "These are our knuck-hic-s."

Thedoric laughed along with them, and then Elaii and Onaii went off to gather some vegetables for breakfast.. They ambled off, lightly punching each other in the arm, murmuring about this and that.

A small yawn sounded from behind him. He turned to see a young girl come out of her tent. He shook his head. Marill always forgot to put on her clothes. He blushed and made a little "ahem" sound. She looked down and discovered the fact that all she was wearing was underwear. She laughed and sprinted over to Thedoric and stole his cloak. She wrapped it about her slim form and snuggled down by the fire that the twins had stoked earlier. Marill sighed with satisfaction and promptly fell asleep amidst the folds of the soft wool, her velvet white ears poking out from her messy hair.

She was a rare sort of person- A Vaiel. A Human male and Viera woman who made love to each other were almost certain to have no children. But when they did, they are not welcome in Viera circles, due to their mortality. Her ears just barely came out, like cats' ears. She had human hands and feet and body, but was a bit more slender than most girls. She was a lonely girl, and many humans disliked her for being a half-breed. She was new in the clan- only about a week.

He was awakened from his stupor by a shoe contacting the back of his head. He fell off of the stump, yelling.

A young woman stepped out of the tent Marill had been sleeping in, carrying the other shoe. She had robes of brown with the clan symbol on them, and was brandishing the other shoe.

"Aaah! Why the hell don't you understand I ain't a goddamn morning person! I'll throw a goddamn shoe at your flipping head! I will rip your balls off, Thedoric! You woke me up, and it's GOD-DAMN five in the morning!"

He caught the other shoe that flew through the air at subsonic speeds, and threw it aside. He ran up and gave her a big hug.

"Oh, Lana, we were wondering what made you _so_ happy! It's _sooooo_ good to see you!"

She yelled and pushed him away. Glowering, she took a towel that was hanging in a nearby tree and went down to the spring to wash, muttering under her breath.

The rest of camp assembled on the grounds near the fire. In all there were five more. Blaine, the clan's Black Mage, was laughing and carrying Nani the Moogle on his shoulders. Nani shrieked with laughter, and clung bravely onto Blaine's hat. Beside them, a young man and viera stood interlocked in each other's arms, kissing each other so hard that it seemed that their faces were glued together; Hans and Gretzy, the lovers of the camp. Another moogle shook his head and was stirring a large skillet that he held in his hands, mumbling "You can't eat each other's faces for breakfast, you know."

The two separated and yelled in unison "You're just jealous, Loft."

"Shaddap', you guys! No insulting me or no breakfast for you!"

The two laughed and reunited, doing an awkward sidestep towards the mess tent, as not to separate from each other. The others just shook their heads and made their way in the same direction. Lana returned, wearing her armor and looking sullen. Blaine, being as tall as he was, grabbed some food for Nani, as he was too short to reach the folding table. Thedoric looked over and jokingly said to Nani " I guess you need a few spell books on your chair, eh, Nani?"

"Nah, I'm using one of Lofty's pots." He said cheerily, oblivious to sarchasm."

"DON'T CALL ME LOFTY!" was heard from outside near the fire.

Everyone laughed, and began to dig in. Yellow, cheesy eggs and browned sausages graced a pan full of golden brown pancakes, Loft's specialty. Honey was poured over them, being carefully heated, so as to be the right consistency. It's sweet aroma was almost drowned out by the fruit juices in flasks arranged on the table. On one, there was a label stating "Narniander" and containing a tangy, orange nectar. The next was very large, and blue juice dripped down the side. This sweet substance seemed to be all that Blaine and Nani ever drunk. Lastly, a canister of a yellow-golden liquid was placed amid these, labeled "Appelze" in one of the twins' primitive scrawl. The apple juice was passed around by everyone else, it's contents draining rapidly into extended goblets. The homemade juice was very popular, as could be seen. Several types of fruits were scattered amongst the bottles, and vegetables including wild watercress, wild tomatoes, and potatoes graced all of the plates of the served.

The lovers had separated their faces enough to eat, yet still their cheeks were still touching, by some miracle. Blaine and Nani finished, and went outside to fool around. Lana sat across from Thedoric, giving her eggs a dark look. The twins were eating the same food as each other ( as usual) in the same portions, and were telling some sort of joke in Bangaan, seeing that they were babbling incoherently and snorting juice out of their noses.

"Why did we have to have eggs today? It's not my day for eggs. I wanted fish." Lana was complaining. Loft came out of the kitchen, brandishing a pan.

"Don't you insult my cooking, you ungrateful disgrace! I hav'st 'alf a mind to knock you upside the head!"

"Lana, he's right. If you're gonna' be Miz Bi-Polar today, I recommend you do it elsewhere. Lofty slaved to cook us this meal, the twins got the vegetables for the pancakes, and Blaine and I bought this stuff at market. And Thed' went and hunted the birds!" said Nani as he came in to grab a banana. Lana looked angry at first, but finally her expression turned from grimace to smile, and she picked up Nani and enwrapped him in a powerful bear hug.

"Thank you, Nani. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but you made me see what I was doing. Thank you!" she said happily with him in her arms.

"You…. Squishing…. Me…!" Nani said, muffled by her chest.

"Oh! Sorry… Heh heh…"

Nani emerged from the folds of her robe looking a little dazed but smiling nonetheless. He walked drunkenly out the door with a "S'ok… Lana…"

She smiled and walked out after him. Loft walked out with another plate of his food, mumbling about "base ingratitude" or something of the sort, and Thedoric was left alone in the mess tent.

He could never touch his food the day before he fought, but he would eat like a famined wolf the morning of. He was on his fourth helping, when he heard a beautiful laugh, and in came Marill. She still was draped in the cloak, tightly holding it around herself to keep out the cold. She smiled and asked "Any left? I was sleeping."

"We gathered. No, but you can have mine." Thedoric grinned. She smiled and he handed his plate to her. She thanked him and promptly sat down on his lap, much to his embarrassment. Placidly eating her food, she didn't notice his face blush, until she looked behind herself at him, and, alarmed, she asked "Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah. Fine- never better, actually!" he said hurriedly.

"That's good, then. Thank you, Thedoric!" she said, giving him a hug, depositing her empty plate on the table and bouncing out of the mess tent, leaving Thedoric sitting dazed in the chair.


End file.
